One Distant Day
by starstudded
Summary: my first fan fic
1. the night

This is appropriate for any reader. It's my first fan fic. It's called "Necessity." It's the first chapter, so give me some feed back to work with! Thanks! Starstudded  
  
Chapter One: The Night  
  
If there was a reason why, nobody ever told Charlie Conway. After awhile, he just passed it off as a nice coincidence.  
  
He was a hockey player and the grueling workouts usually sent him into a deep and restful sleep every night. Every night, it turned out, except this one. It wasn't without cause. He was troubled by thoughts of his on-again off-again girlfriend, Linda.  
  
The red number on his alarm clock burned 3:14, piercing the silent darkness. And though he couldn't see him, Charlie could hear his roommate and fellow hockey teammate, Adam Banks, breathing rhythmically across the room.  
  
Charlie sighed. A glass of water, he thought. Maybe that would help.  
  
He maneuvered himself carefully to the fridge in the still black, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light. As he stood there raising the glass to his lips, a faint rattle at the window caught his attention. Crossing the room he peered outside.  
  
It was a sparsely clouded and windless night. Had he been able to see the stars he would have wished on one, but they were all hiding.  
  
But Charlie knew the moon was out there. He could see it behind a cloud, making the cloud's outline unusually bright compared to all the others.  
  
It wasn't long before his thoughts turned to Linda, as they so often did these days. The mixed emotions flooded his mind, making him uncomfortable. But he was getting used to it; he had this feeling for so long, it was practically a part of him now.  
  
"What should I do, Moon?" he asked the night. "We're so different. She just doesn't understand. I know she tries but I just don't think she'll ever get it. Can she really be for me when she will never understand this part of my life? Will she ever really know me?"  
  
The moon slipped out from its hiding place, shining silver rays on its late visitor.  
  
Charlie smiled, but he wasn't surprised. I haven't looked at the moon like this, really paid attention, in a long time.  
  
Do you remember the last time you did? The moon seemed to ask.  
  
You remember that night, too? Charlie wondered as it all came flooding back. It was the last night I ever saw Hans.  
  
The memory was so clear it was like Hans had never left. The night can have that effect on people.  
  
He remembered his angry voice saying "I gotta walk" and winced. He had known, somehow, that something was wrong with Hans. But when Charlie questioned him, Hans had held up his index finger in reference to a joke he had always loved to play.  
  
Hans liked to pretend he had cut his finger while sharpening skates. He used to be able to make Charlie fall for it when he was younger. But eventually, he caught on that the red blood was really just catsup.  
  
Charlie had stormed out, leaving Hans and his old radio to listen to the Ducks hockey game alone.  
  
Charlie had gone to the old duck pond that night, where he and the original Ducks used to practice. It was the place where they had met the coach that was destined to change their lives. He went there and looked at the moon for hours. While he sitting there staring up at the sky, Hans was going on a trip of his own. He had taken his place among the stars.  
  
That old moon. He and Gordon Bombay even playfully wrestled under it one night outside his apartment after hockey practice.  
  
Charlie wished he could talk to Hans about Linda. He shuttered thinking of all of those long years ahead, and how many more times he would wish he knew what Hans would say.  
  
But I can't. Hans is dead, he reminded himself. I've just got to do the right thing. That's all Hans ever wanted.  
  
And I have to go to bed, he admitted practically, observing the time on his clock which now read 3:50. Coach Orion had called an emergency meeting tomorrow morning. Charlie figured it must be pretty important.  
  
He set his glass down on his desk. Hard.  
  
Adam stirred in his bed. "Charlie, is that you?"  
  
"Go back to sleep, Cake eater," Charlie instructed. His vulnerability vanished and his natural leadership qualities came flooding back.  
  
He didn't need to tell Adam twice.  
  
Time to take your own advice, Conway, Charlie thought. He had a feeling tomorrow was going to be a big day.  
  
He cast one last glance back out at the starless night but he moon had already retreated back behind the clouds.  
  
Until next time, Charlie thought, Sleep came easily this time, though his problems were still unsolved. He found comfort in knowing that even on the darkest nights the moon could still find him. 


	2. the plan

Chapter Two The Plan  
  
Wham! Charlie felt something soft smack into his head. "Wake up, Charlie," was Adam's stern command.  
  
So abruptly woken from his deep sleep, Charlie opened his mouth to tell Adam exactly how he felt about the Captain taking orders from anyone, but then changed his mind. A real leader wouldn't do that.  
  
So he got up, full of groggy annoyance, his burning eyes a reminder of his sleepless night. Linda. He sighed. Don't think about it now, he told himself. Think about the Ducks.  
  
He pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, glancing across the room to see Adam finish combing his hair and applying a light spray of cologne.  
  
"Knock it off, Preppy," Charlie snapped. "Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," was Adam's non apologetic reply, "You know, Linda's turning you into a real grump."  
  
Charlie was quite stunned. Such a comment was incredibly out of character for Adam. As the Captain, Charlie prided himself on knowing what to expect from his teammates. He made a mental note of Adam's strange behavior and said nothing.  
  
Part of the reason Charlie didn't object was because he couldn't honestly say he felt Adam's comments were completely untrue.  
  
"Let's not go there right now, Banks," Charlie said, as he herded his roommate off to Orion's emergency meeting.  
  
The two boys entered the locker room to find they were the last ones to show up. Charlie tried to suppress his dismay. He liked being the first to arrive, the last to leave.  
  
Seeing his team assembled, Coach Orion got right down to business. He didn't like wasting time.  
  
"Alright, team, I'm going to cut right to the chase. I've decided you're ready to play in a tournament."  
  
The team exchanged glances. This didn't really seem like earth shattering news.  
  
"What kind of a tournament?" asked Connie Moreau. "We play all the high school teams around here all the time."  
  
"You've never played these high school teams," Coach Orion informed her. "This is a three week tournament in Pennsylvania. We leave on Friday."  
  
"We're going to Pennsylvania?" Goldberg chirped up, obviously thrilled.  
  
"Three weeks? What about school?" Ken Wu asked, concerned. "Shut up, dude," Portman hissed. "Well, some of us care about our grades," Ken muttered, but obviously not wanting to upset Portman too much.  
  
"You'll have a tutor," Orion said. "And like I said, we leave for Pittsburgh on Friday, so get your things in order." "What?" Goldberg asked, his tone suddenly not so pleasant. "You mean Philly."  
  
"No, Pittsburgh, as in the Penguins. The tournament is at their facility, Mellon Arena. Mario Lemieux?" Orion said. "Philadelphia would be way cooler," Goldberg grumbled.  
  
"We're playing a tournament in a real NHL arena?" Banks asked, incredulously. "Yeah," Orion said, "And you can count on it being hard so we're going to need you to bring you're a game, Banks."  
  
But Adam's mind was already in Pennsylvania and he was thinking about one thing. Scouts.  
  
"Alright, team, I will se you after class today for practice. Now, get out of here. And Charlie, can you come see me in my office?" Orion asked.  
  
The room erupted in confused, excited chatter. "Bash Brothers are gonna rip it up in Pennsylvania," Fulton shouted above the mayhem, as much for his own benefit as anybody else's.  
  
Meanwhile, Charlie went into Orion's office and closed the door. "What's up, Coach?" he asked.  
  
Coach Orion cleared his throat. "I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't joking when I said this was going to be hard. I'm counting on you to have this team pumped up. This is a really big opportunity. Gordon got you Ducks a lot of exposure when he was dubbed the Minnesota Miracle Man and the leading you to the gold medal at the Jr. Goodwill Games."  
  
Charlie nodded, not really understanding where Coach was going with this. "The thing is," Orion continued, "We have to keep that exposure alive. We can't let people forget about the Ducks. Anybody who wants to be in the pros needs to stay in the spotlight and not be forgotten. It's my job to finish what Bombay started."  
  
"You're talking about Banks." Charlie said quietly. "I'm talking about everyone," Orion said firmly, "But yes, Banks, too. He has so much potential, you all do. And when this opportunity came up, I knew it was only fair we take it."  
  
"You can count on me, Coach." Charlie said, "I won't let you down." "I know, Charlie." Orion replied.  
  
Back out in the locker room, everyone was gone except for Banks, Portman, and Julie.  
  
Julie and Portman were fully engrossed in their own conversation. Adam came over to Charlie, he was obviously nervous.  
  
Charlie knew Adam had no idea about this tournament was mainly for him. And he knew he could never tell him. It was obvious Adam was plenty nervous already.  
  
"We really have to be on top of things," Adam said. Charlie eyed him keenly. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure Adam didn't know. "We're a team, Cake eater," Charlie said, trying to lighten the mood. "Don't worry."  
  
"What I mean is, we all gotta be focused." Adam pressed. And Charlie got the message. Linda. Adam thought Linda was going to distract Charlie into not playing his best in the tournament.  
  
"I got it under control so mind your own business, Banks" snapped Charlie and he stormed out of the locker room. He passed Julie and Portman still talking as he slammed the door behind him.  
  
Even in rage, his captain instincts were still sharp. Julie and Portman? He made another mental note. 


	3. pre tournament preparations

Chapter 3 Pre Tournament Preparation  
  
Charlie barged out of the locker room, boiling with anger. Who did Banks think he was, anyway?  
  
"Charlie!" yelled Averman. "Hey, Dwayne and I are going to start packing. Want to come?"  
  
"Already?" Charlie asked, surprised, "I would expect that from Julie and Connie." "Nah, dude, I'm talking strategy." Averman said mischievously. "Now, Coach is going to be onto us, so it's we're going to have to be extra careful. We'll make sure those other teams are sorry the ever played the Ducks. Now, do you think Orion will be suspicious of harmless little balloons in my suitcase?"  
  
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You have to be kidding." Seeing Averman's disappointment, Charlie changed his tone. "Give Coach a little credit, I know you can think of something better than that."  
  
Averman's face lit up. "Hey, you're right. I gotta go, ok, Charlie?" And Averman was gone before Charlie even had a chance to say bye.  
  
Charlie smiled. He could always count on Averman to make him feel better, even when Averman didn't even know what he was doing.  
  
But back to business, thought Charlie. Maybe it was Adam's words or something else entirely, but suddenly Charlie was determined to patch things up with Linda. He knew where to find her.  
  
She was standing in the Eden Hall parking lot, enjoying some fresh air before class, when Charlie walked up to her. Charlie put his best foot forward trying to talk to her about things he knew she would enjoy. Basically that meant anything but sports, especially hockey. I'll show Banks, Charlie thought stubbornly, though he didn't actually what he was showing him by making peace with Linda.  
  
"So, Charlie," Linda said sweetly, "What are we doing for my birthday next week?"  
  
Oh, boy, Charlie thought under his breath. "Yeah, about that," he said shifting nervously, "Maybe we could celebrate at the end of this week." Linda's eyes shot up. "But my birthday is next week? What's wrong with next week?"  
  
"Coach just called us in this morning," Charlie explained, "We have a tournament in Pennsylvania." "For how many days?" Linda asked, exasperated. "Just three weeks," Charlie said, as if it were only a weekend.  
  
"Three weeks?! What about school, Charlie? What about me?" Linda's voice got louder.  
  
"We'll have a tutor," Charlie explained. "Still!" Linda protested. "You can't just leave school. Don't you care about your education?" "Look, this is what I do," Charlie said. "Besides, this is a really great opportunity for us. And especially Adam. If any of us want to get to the pros, we need to compete in some big tournaments."  
  
"Why do you care about Adam and the pros? Let him figure it out." Linda snapped.  
  
And that's when Charlie knew that even if Linda lived to be a hundred, she would never understand.  
  
Teammates were for life. Even though he was angry at Adam, he still wanted only the best for him. It was a loyalty Linda just couldn't comprehend.  
  
He wanted to tell her about quacking at the principal in grade school. It was almost mythical now. He wanted to tell her how Gordon had bailed them out of detention. But Linda would probably say they deserved to be there and he wouldn't take the risk of her belittling his memories.  
  
Most of all he wanted to tell her what it was like to be a part of something so special. How even when he could no longer play hockey, he would remember the days of District 5, tying Goldberg to the goalie net to make him stay there, and smile because he had been so lucky.  
  
But he said none of those things. She would never understand. The only people who ever would, were the people who had sat with him at the locker room meeting this morning.  
  
"Charlie," Luis yelped, "Averman flooded the toilets in the locker room. He said he was practicing for something. Orion and the dean are going to have our heads, man."  
  
Charlie's eyes widened. "Tell him to get out of there! We can blame it on the Varsity or something." He was thinking fast and not laugh, though the mental image of Averman flooding toilets was hilarious.  
  
"Come on!" Luis urged, dragging Charlie by the arm. "Sorry, Linda," Charlie said, but not really apologizing.  
  
And off he ran with Luis, to bail out a Duck in distress.  
  
Chapter 4: The Ducks are off to Pennsylvania for the tournament and are in for a big surprise. 


	4. the bus ride

Chapter Four  
  
Rather than make plane reservations, Eden Hall had decided a bus was a more appropriate means of transportation for the Ducks to get to Pennsylvania.  
  
The trip had almost been canned entirely thanks to Averman's little stunt in the hockey bathroom.  
  
The alumni had a fit about the Ducks representing the school in such a high profile tournament, especially, the board added, because of such juvenile behavior.  
  
Coach Orion had done some pretty fancy sweet talking and got the off, but Charlie had a pretty good idea Orion was going to make them pay for it.  
  
"Everybody sit," Orion ordered. "I don't want to hear so much as a word out of your all between here and Pennsylvania. Or a quack, for that matter," he added, eyeing the group with suspicion. Russ laughed.  
  
"Oh, yeah, bus bathrooms!' cheered Portman. "I just knew we were gonna have bus bathrooms. How fun! I've been holding it for days."  
  
Charlie, who had been drinking a soda, almost choked. "I'm not going!" shrieked Connie in disgust. The team tutor, Elle Henderson, looked positively petrified. She had heard about Averman's bathroom incident and was beginning to wonder if this hockey team had some fixation with toilets.  
  
"Coach!" Connie complained, standing up as if she really was not going to go. "Connie!" Guy yelled, pulling on her arm so she would sit down. "Charlie!" Coach Orion said in exasperation.  
  
"Everybody shut up," ordered Charlie. "Don't even think about it Portman." He added. "Do you have any idea how long this drive is going to be?"  
  
Portman wasn't happy. "You all need to loosen up," he grumbled.  
  
"You all need to get your sleep," Orion explained. "Tomorrow we register for the tournament and practice. The next day is our first game."  
  
Charlie slid into the seat beside Adam who was visibly nervous. "Chill, Cake eater," Charlie instructed.  
  
In front of them, Portman slid into the seat next to Julie. Adam leaned over to Charlie and whispered, "Russ said Fulton said Julie and Portman have the hots for each other. didn't know that did you, Captain Duckie?"  
  
It was another out of character comment from Adam, thought Charlie. No, I didn't know Julie liked Portman. But I'm starting think you like Julie, too. I'm starting to wonder what in the world is going on around here. But I'm going to find out.  
  
"Just go to sleep, Prepster," Charlie said giving him a light shove. 


	5. we're here

The bus load of sleeping Ducks were jolted awake when the bus slammed on the brakes.  
  
Adam and Charlie went flying into the seats in front of them. Adam automatically put his hands in front of himself to brace for the impact.  
  
His weak wrist did not tolerate the force of his weight and he groaned in pain.  
  
"Is everybody alright?" Coach Orion shouted, sending an angry look in the direction of the bus driver who was profusely apologizing.  
  
One by one, everyone voiced that they were okay. "Let's see that wrist, Banks." Coach Orion ordered.  
  
The coach pressed on the bones carefully until he was satisfied nothing was broken. "We'll keep an eye on it," instructed Orion, "It's swelling already so make sure you get some ice on it when we get inside the hotel." The he added wryly, "We're here."  
  
Up until then, nobody had even noticed. "Unload gang," instructed the coach, and he turned to get off the bus.  
  
Immediately, Adam was swarmed by his teammates. "Are you alright? What happened?" they all asked at once.  
  
He dismissed their concerns quickly. "Are you sure everything is okay?" Julie pressed.  
  
Adam nodded feeling his cheeks grow warm. "Yeah, absolutely."  
  
Julie reluctantly walked off the bus, leaving Adam silently yelling at himself for blowing an opportunity to talk to her.  
  
Outside the bus, she had joined an energetic Portman who had been cooped up on a bus for far too long. He was using his excess energy to put Averman in a headlock.  
  
Banks shook his head, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he went to join his friends.  
  
********** Inside the lobby, it was insanity.  
  
Charlie figured every single team in the tournament had chosen that exact second to arrive.  
  
The team stayed together, checking out the competition while Orion went to register them.  
  
It took all of about twenty seconds until they were approached by two boys in black jackets. Both were tall and thin.  
  
"We heard you all might be coming," one of them said.  
  
"Well, you heard right. Here we are," Portman said in a no nonsense tone.  
  
"I guess you all think you're the big shots," the other guy said. "Having a professional team named after you and all."  
  
"Yeah, maybe we do." Fulton said, and it clearly egged them on. Portman added, "You have a professional hockey team named after you, then come talk to us about how to feel about it."  
  
"We knew you were a bunch of pricks, huh, Darryl?" the first boy said. "You think you can just come here and own the place. Well, just bring it. We're last year's tournament champions. I can't wait to tell everybody back in Michigan we creamed the famous Mighty Ducks."  
  
"Creamed BY the famous Mighty Ducks," Portman challenged, stepping closer to the two boys as if he was going to do it right there on the spot.  
  
Charlie decided it was time he took control of the situation. "Portman, chill, we'll do our talking on the ice."  
  
"I'll do my talking right now." Portman informed his captain.  
  
"They even have girls!" Darryl said, with a certain amount of glee. "Are you guys trying to lose? That's smart. Get eliminated before you have to play us." Then, he looked straight at Julie and said, "But you can call me anytime."  
  
Portman, who needed little incentive anyway, swung. His fist firmly met Darryl's jaw.  
  
What ensued can only be described as mayhem. The two boys started going at it as more boys in black jackets ran to assist their teammate.  
  
Security and hotel management swarmed, a as a screaming Coach Orion tried to corral his team. He dragged them all outside and then cut loose.  
  
"Do you guys TRY to forfeit every mental edge you have? Do you sit around and think up ways? You really must!" His face was getting redder every second.  
  
"Go up to your rooms!" he continued, thrusting keys at the players. "Our fist game is tomorrow. We aren't practicing, but I want you all to do some conditioning tonight. Then, it's bed. And I mean it! And room however you want, except have to Julie and Connie room together and I don't want Fulton and Portman together. Now, go!"  
  
The team scattered. He watched them flee then yelled as an afterthought, "And Adam, ice that wrist!!!" 


	6. storm moving in

Thank you so much for the reviews!! Sorry it has been so long since I updated, I was on spring break, but I'll do better!!  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Charlie and Adam were busy unloading their gear. Adam had taken the Coach's advice and put an ice pack on his bright red wrist.  
  
"How's it feel?" Charlie asked. Banks shrugged, "Fine." Charlie said nothing but had a bad feeling it was anything but fine.  
  
"Alright, well, I'm going down to the lobby to find a phone. I need to call Linda. I kind of left on bad terms." Charlie explained.  
  
Adam had been ready to volunteer his cell phone then quickly changed his mind. If Charlie wanted to call his mom, that was one thing. But Linda. he saw no reason to make it more convenient. "You're whipped." Adam informed him.  
  
"Dude!" Charlie protested, clearly agitated. "Mind your own business! You don't see me bothering you about Julie!"  
  
"What about Julie?" Adam shot back, defensive. "Never mind," Charlie muttered. But Adam wouldn't let it go.  
  
"No, finish what you start." Adam told Charlie, his voice rising. "All I meant," Charlie told him, "Was that I don't ask you about Julie so don't bother me about Linda. You don't even have the guts to tell Julie how you feel, Banksie."  
  
"Julie is my friend. You don't know anything about it." Adam snapped. "And the last thing I want you to do is hurt her by opening your big trap. She likes Portman, she's happy. And I'm happy."  
  
"Yeah, right." Charlie countered. "I know you, and I've seen the way you look at her. I don't want to hurt you Adam, but living this lie, you're doing a pretty good job of hurting yourself."  
  
"You just don't get it!" Adam shouted.  
  
"Get what?" Charlie fired back, meeting Adam's anger with his own. "Just forget about it!" Adam answered.  
  
Adam stormed out of the room and didn't look back. "Geez, how did that happen?" Charlie asked himself, crossing the room to sit down on the edge of his bed. It was all a blur.  
  
Way to go, Conway, he thought, tick off the star player the day before the biggest tournament of the year. That's the way to be a captain.  
  
"Hey, Banks, Charlie," Russ said barging into the room, "Get your lazy rear ends out here. The team's going to go condition."  
  
"I'm coming," Charlie said. "Banks had to blow off some steam. He'll be here soon."  
  
"Alright, yeah, let's go." Russ said, "Knowing Adam, that's probably where he went. He probably already started, the nerd."  
  
But they were both wrong. Adam wasn't already there. Not when they got arrived, or any time after. 


	7. bad news

Some things you just know. And Charlie Conway just knew.  
  
Something was very wrong. Adam Banks always showed up for practice. Their argument had been big, but not that big. Nothing stood between Banks and hockey.  
  
Charlie led the conditioning exercises but his heart wasn't in it. In fact, there was total silence. Nobody was joking around or goofing off. Every single one of them was aware that they were missing an integral part of their flock.  
  
"Hold two, three, four." Charlie said. Then, he stood up and checked his watch. They had started conditioning over an hour ago. And he made a decision.  
  
"Alright, gang. we need to talk. I need to know what you want to do. Adam's not here. You all know we had a disagreement earlier and that Adam went blow of steam. But you also know it isn't like Adam to miss a workout. He's had an hour. I need your input? What should we do?" Charlie asked.  
  
It was like the floodgates broke wide open. The silence ended and everybody started talking at once.  
  
"We have to tell Coach." Connie volunteered. "No way," Fulton said, "We'll just get him in trouble. Let's go look for him first."  
  
"Forget it, man." Russ told Fulton. "We GOTTA tell Coach. I don't think we should have waited this long. Banks isn't here, don't you get it? Banks is ALWAYS here." His determined tone seemed to get through to Fulton.  
  
"Whatever, man," Portman said, "The guy probably just wanted to be alone. You're gonna get him in trouble just because he went for a walk?"  
  
"No way, Portman," Julie said, standing up to him by the firmness in her voice. "Russ and Connie are right. I say we go get Coach Orion now. What do you think, Guy?"  
  
Guy Germaine waited a few seconds and answered slowly. "I've known Adam practically forever. He would never, ever miss a practice. I'm sure of it. I say we go get Coach."  
  
"Who thinks we should go get Coach Orion?" Charlie asked democratically. Everyone raised their hand except Portman and Fulton. "Alright, it's decided then. Come on, team, lets go get coach."  
  
But they didn't have to go find Orion, he found them. And as soon as Charlie saw his pasty white complexion, his heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Team, you guys," Orion said quietly, "I have some really bad news."  
  
Charlie could feel the blood pounding in his ears.  
  
"Adam. Adam is in the hospital." Orion said slowly.  
  
"Why?" Connie asked quickly. "Is he going to be okay?"  
  
"I. they think so. He's not in good shape. I just spoke to the doctors, though. Thankfully, his injuries don't seem to be too severe. Bumps and bruises, a sprained ankle, a sprained wrist, but they are cautiously hoping there are no broken bones. As I understand it, he has one pretty bad black eye." Orion said. He was avoiding something and Portman was the first to connect the dots.  
  
"Black eye??" Portman questioned angrily. "There is only one way you get a black eye."  
  
"How?" asked Averman.  
  
"A fight, brainless," Portman snapped.  
  
"But Adam would never get in a fight off the ice. Heck, he almost never gets into fights on the ice." Averman said logically.  
  
"Ambush." Charlie said coldly.  
  
The entire team started talking at once. "Those guys in the lobby. They were gunning for us." "What were their names?" "Darryl." "Last year's champs." "The black jackets."  
  
"Hey, hey!" shouted Coach Orion. "We DON'T know that! I know you are all upset. So am I. But you also have to know the Tournament Committee is taking this very seriously. They are committed to finding out who did this."  
  
"So he really did get beat up by a bunch of punks?" Dwayne asked, surprised.  
  
"He was in an. altercation." Orion explained. "That's all I know. We don't know who did it. Yet. But trust me, we will. But this brings up a really important issue. You all are pretty well known here. A lot of people might think your goons, hot shots, bullies. I should have seen this earlier. I'm sorry I didn't. But I need you guys to stick together. Nobody goes anywhere alone. Hotel, practice, game, tutoring. Nobody goes anywhere if I don't know about it."  
  
"I don't believe this." Guy said. "How could somebody do this? It's just a tournament."  
  
"I know. I agree with you." Orion said. "Actually, we don't even know that this was hockey related. Adam could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But if it was hockey motivated. there are some people here who want to win. Badly. They might have seen you all and Adam as a threat. It's not right, but that's how it is."  
  
"Can we go see him?" Connie asked.  
  
Coach Orion shook his head. "Visiting hours are over for tonight. And you guys need your rest. You're first game is tomorrow. We can't forget why we are here. Adam is going to recover. This tournament is three weeks long. He might even be able to come back before it's over. So concentrate on the game. I'm going to try and get your tutoring cancelled for tomorrow so you can go see Adam after the game."  
  
He was silent for a moment then added, "Stay focused. Don't let this keep you from doing what I know you can do. Adam would want you to WIN."  
  
It was the first time Charlie smiled since he heard about Adam. Even in this awful situation, Coach was still motivating them.  
  
From his team mates faces, he could tell any of them would walk over hot coals barefoot for Adam at this point.  
  
Coach Orion turned to leave. "Get back to your rooms. Stick together. I'll see you tomorrow at ten in the locker room to get ready for the game."  
  
As he walked away, everybody started talking.  
  
"Let's go beat up those jerks." That could only be Portman.  
  
"I really want to go see him." Charlie raised his eyebrows. Julie. That would make Adam's day.  
  
"No." Charlie said. "If you've ever listened to me, listen to me now. We're going to our rooms to get some rest until the game. And after we whip up on whatever team we play, we'll go see Adam."  
  
"What about retaliation, Charlie?" Fulton asked. "We HAVE to."  
  
Charlie nodded silently. "First we need the facts. But we will get revenge. All in good time, trust me." His eyes were cold and hard.  
  
Fulton nodded in solidarity.  
  
And together they turned away. The weight of the world was on their minds but they were ready to take in on together. 


End file.
